Best Surgeons

[Guest guest]

Jan asked about my comment about " the best surgeons " removing all the fibroids

and not leaving any behind. I'm not sure what your question is. And while I do

agree that the best surgeon for you may not be the best surgeon for me, there

are certain qualities that I use to definte 'best surgeon'

I think there are some surgeons who are more technically skilled at performing

myos. These are often the ones who have performed a lot of myos, but not

necessarily. I believe that doctors who take on patients that other doctors are

unable, unwilling or afraid to take on (due to complexity of the surgery), and

have a highly successful fibroid removal rate, are who I consider the best

surgeons.

I think that probably surgeons of average competence should be able to remove

one small fibroid without any difficulty. And I think that most do. But I

needed somebody with more proven skill.

For large fibroids, or multiple fibroids (I had what appeared to be 5 or 6 on

the sonogram, but I suspected was many more, turned out to be over 40), it

seems, from what women here have shared, as well as many women I have discussed

this with outside this list, only highly skilled surgeons seem to be able to

successfully perform this surgery, and remove all of the fibroids that are

there, on a consistent basis. And usually, these are the doctors who prefer

that a woman does NOT take Lupron before the surgery.

It also seems that these doctors genuinely care about their patients and

understand those of us who tell them that it is very important to us that we

keep our uterus. (I'm not saying that other doctors are not concerned about

this, but I am saying that doctors who try very hard to perform the requested

operation, and usually succeed, seem to feel this way more often.)

The doctor I went to, who fits this criteria, is Dr. West. From talking to many

other people, I believe that Dr. and Dr. Glassner in PA also fall

into this category. I'm sure that there are others; these are the ones who I

know at least several people who had wonderful experiences with. And another

male doctor, in Boston, whose name escapes me, but who I heard speak at the HERS

conference (Dr. Levine, I believe), and I've heard many successful stories about

is somebody I would consider if I needed to have another myo.

Having said that, I know that most of these doctors do not accept insurance, and

depending on what your plan pays for going out-of-plan, it's not possible to

necessarily have the surgery with the best surgeon you can find. But for many

of us, it was worth giving up a few years of vacations, and contributions to a

401K or whatever else we had to sacrifice, to have the surgeon of our choice.

Which I'm pained to say I know is not possible for everyone.

One last point. For me, surgical excellence was the prime criteria. And total

confidence in the doctor, that I would get the promised myo and not a

hysterectomy, just because the surgery was going to take longer than

anticipated. Other women are more concerned about a really easy-to-talk-to,

supportive and nurturing person. That was not my prime criteria. I was

thrilled to find both in one person. But once in the past when I needed a

surgeon, I found somebody who was medically excellent but not-so-pleasant a

person. And that was OK with me. It doesn't mean it needs to be OK with

anybody else.

One last point, which there are several other women here who seem to be

supporting my declaration of Dr. West's excellence. I believe that women who go

to the 'best surgeons' tend to recuperate more quickly than others. Not an

absolute rule, there are lots of reasons for easier and more difficult

recoveries. But on average, that's what I see.

R.

[Guest guest]

R.,

I have an appt. with the Dr. Glassner that you mentioned in your post. Do

you know women who have had experiences with him? Thanks! Suzanne